October 1999 - Cambridge-based Akamai goes public and raises $234 million.
April 2000 - Cambridge Innovation Center is founded in Kendall Square.
May 2002 - Novartis AG announces a plan to shift its worldwide research headquarters from Basel, Switzerland, to Cambridge.
February 2004 - Facebook launches as a Harvard-only social network.
November 2005 - iRobot goes public and raises $105 million.
February 2007 - Google opens an office at the Cambridge Innovation Center.
June 2007 - Microsoft’s New England Research and Development (NERD) center opens at One Memorial Drive in Cambridge.
May 2010 – Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announces the creation of an ‘Innovation District’ and says the city intends to develop 1,000 acres on the South Boston Waterfront and the Marine Industrial Park.
Advertisement
October 2010 - Boston Region Entrepreneurship Week is started.
April 2011 - Zipcar goes public and raises $174 million.
April 2011 - Boston Hack Day Challenge starts.
December 2012 - Web giant Amazon launches an engineering office in Kendall Square
January 2013 - Apple’s logo appears above a door in the Cambridge Innovation Center, signaling the company’s arrival.
November 2013 - Facebook opens an engineering office in Kendall Square.
March 2014 - Cambridge Innovation Center opens space in Boston for 300 startups.
October 2014 - Wayfair raises $305 million for its IPO.
October 2014 - Hubspot goes public and raises $125 million.
Compiled by Boston Globe librarian Lisa Tuite